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P-51D-5, s/n 44-13321, Maj. George Preddy Jr., 487th FS, 352nd FG, Bodney, United Kingdom, July 1944
P-51D-10, 44-14221, Maj. Pierce W. McKennon, CO of 335th FS, 4th FG,
Debden, United Kingdom, April 1945
The future fighter ace with the highest score
achieved on Mustang among all the pilots was
born on February 5, 1919, in Greensboro, North
Carolina. He had completed the pilot training
before the War and tried three times to enlist in
the US Navy in 1940. But he was refused every
time. For the fourth try he applied to enlist in the
USAAC and was accepted in 1940. He completed
the fighter training consequently and after
his assignment to 49th PS was dispatched to
Australia. Flying P-40E in the defense of Darwin
he was credited with two Japanese airplanes
damaged. In July 1942, after the mid-air collision
during the training flight, he was wounded and
sent back to the United States. As of September
1943, his next combat assignment awaited him in
Europe with 352nd FG, where he was flying P-47
Thunderbolts providing cover for heavy bombers
of the 8th AF. In April, the unit converted to P-51
Mustangs. In June, the war photographer snapped
Maj. Preddy’s aircraft sporting seventeen kills
painted on the aircraft nose in the form of the
white crosses. The aircraft lacked any camouflage
and sported the blue-painted nose, same as other
352nd FG aircraft. The fuselage and wings were
still carrying so-called invasion stripes.
Future Second World War twelve kill ace Pierce
Winningham McKennon was born on November 30,
1919, in Clarksville, Arkansas. Although his ability
to play the piano awarded him a scholarship at
the University of Arkansas, he did not complete
studies and entered USAAF in 1941, with the wish
to become a fighter pilot. After two months he
was let go due to his nausea, but he refused to
give up on his dream. He joined the RCAF, where
he finished his training and was assigned to
an Operational Training Unit in Europe. He was
reintegrated into the USAAF on February 22,
1943, with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and was
assigned to the 335th FS, which was flying P-47
at that time, but were later replaced by Mustangs.
He was not only an excellent pilot, but due to
the piano playing skills he was also a regular
invitee to social functions. His final sortie came
about during a squadron-wide raid on an air
bases around Prague, when his aircraft was hit
in the canopy, and a piece of Plexiglass narrowly
missed his eye. After the war, he stayed with
the Air Force, serving as an instructor. He died
together with a student pilot in a crash of their
AT-6D near San Antonio, Texas, on June 18, 1947.
KITS 08/2024
INFO Eduard
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August 2024